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I remember Bill Ford from early 2000s declaring that by 2006(?) 25% of Fords sold would be hybrids…….every decade a new plan. When we see a lot of changes in a short time that is both praiseworthy and worrisome, you kind of wonder if they’re making it up as they go, on the fly decisions always cost more in the long run…..that’s not to say sit and do nothing but more think about the whole plan and not just the selfish high profit bits. Hackett and Farley both inherited a cashed up Ford and we’re able to play like millionaires with changing Ford’s future without going deep into debt to do it, not yet anyway. I keep thinking about akirby’s sage warning that Ford doesn’t know the true depth of BEV sales but they seem to be betting the farm that it’s the future with F Series. I’m sure that it will all work out but equally, destiny isn’t written in stone, it relies on a bit of luck, calculated risk and persistence. I wonder if Ford has enough of those to be truly great.

Unfortunately, Ford never seems to learn from their mistakes. Someone comes up with a plan to address problems like quality issues, the plan is mismanaged and/or set aside as new priorities arise, and the cycle repeats. It's been going on for decades and is worse now than it ever was. It was amusing years ago when Ford's marketing slogan was "Quality is Job #1!". It involves a number of factors, including engineering, and goes beyond the current supply chain and vendor issues. Add in the fact that there are far too many options, especially freestanding options, and far too many models and trims that increase production costs, make scheduling more difficult, increase plant constraints, etc. And while the quality issues and related costs continue to get worse on a daily basis, Ford adds even more models, trims, etc. that make long term solutions even more difficult. Ford started an "Inventory Reframing" program last year to simplify the specifications for Dealer stock orders. It's almost laughable as to how many order configurations are available. Some Dearborn executive decides that they have a better idea, develops a plan that they sell to senior management, the plan gets launched and the problems that the plan were to address actually get worse.

I thought Farley was a man with a competent plan but as you have stated the same old issues seem to be creeping up. Farley needs to get this house in order since he is seen as a good CEO. I expect him and his team to rectify at least some of these issues and improve the situation with this company and the way they operate at all levels.

There is a price to pay for cost cutting and that’s showing with all,of those recall problems that you’d think would be nailed years ago. I think Ford has a big problem with compact EVs and that something like a roomier small mid sized EV is more likely the plan in the future… Im beginning to wonder if a well thought out PHEV may be a better plan for compacts, especially for North America and some far flung antipodean colonies. Whatever happens, I hope Canadian workers get good contracts based on solid future EV production. I guess there’s always an option to pay cash or lease outside of Ford and pay full retail and dealer markups but in the end, is it really worth it….What I’m wondering is whether locking into a Ford Credit lease with online pricing stops those nasty dealer markups and if so, why worry about the future residual value…. Yes and now that all vehicle residual prices are much higher, dealers and Ford want that extra cash, not let buyers have that…

It's not always that simple and you know it. A lot can change over 3 years.

In my 35 years in the corporate world, I’ve seen countless new goals and strategies fail. People are reluctant to change unless forced. People will always do what they think benefits their compensation and/or career goals. Leaders at every level have to be held accountable for quality goals above other goals especially budget and sales. People (especially leaders) who make decisions contrary to quality goals have to be disciplined or replaced. Executives have to be willing to accept budget and sales impacts. E.g. in the Explorer launch fiasco they should have allocated more time and money for the gut job and rebuild and more down time for Explorer sales. But they tried to do it as quickly and as cheaply as possible and the results speak for themselves. Engineering requires process changes. Supplier quality may require spending more or lowering volumes. If people are still compensated based on meeting budgets and schedules and sales goals rather than net profit level and quality then will change. I suspect Ford isn’t willing to make all the changes required to make drastic improvements.

Congrats Gharri the truck looks awesome, money well spent. Like buying a boob job for the old lady. ?

If you’re planning to buy it out just buy the damn thing to begin with.

the more things change the more they stay the same.

Fuzzy, I think what AK is trying to say is if you purchase the vehicle initially (rather than lease), you could sell it whenever you want (after 3 months, after 1 year). Unless it's a Ford GT, or course,,,,, HRG

Congrats! It looks like they’re making progress on these trucks. Up until yesterday people with production dates of 5/3-5/9 were getting their built emails. Glad to see they’ve moved up to 5/14. Shouldn’t be long before the rest of the trucks built through the end of May waiting on these modules get cleared out. ?

Nothing against Farley but this looks like a repeat of Ford's MO regarding CEOs since the turn of the century (with the exception of Mulally). Put someone in, hype them up, put a plan together that ends up stalling and start the process all over again.

If you lease you’re stuck for 3 years. If you buy you can sell it any ti e you want, even 3 months after you buy it. This is just a minor inconvenience.

I really am starting to question Ford’s direction lately. I really hope what ever Jim Farley is planning here that it works. I feel like Ford is in abit of disarray lately. All these recalls, questionable quality, this dealer mess the whole BEV plan. Maybe I’m wrong I don’t know.

No matter how you look at it the customer loses. Not a good thing at all.

Update from when I picked her up two weeks ago. She has changed a little bit since then.

Well, just picked her up from the shop a few min ago. Since last update the windows have been tinted (5% around, 50% on windshield...went with the ceramic tint), exhaust on and now lift/wheels/tires. Grabbed a few photos, definitely needs to be washed. What's next @FirstFord22?!? Already did grill, fender badges, ovals, mirror caps, mirror lights, bed cover, etc....... ?

There’s now a $15,000 price difference between the starting price of a Mach E and Tesla Y, increasing materials costs passed onto consumers is a reality that buyers have to accept or be allowed to cancel their orders, refund deposit and go elsewhere. Mach E Break even? Earlier this year, Ford increased prices for European Mach E by $6,000, so I’m a little surprised that they didn’t do the same for North American prices. So there’s room to increase prices and still be way less than Tesla Y pricing….starting Mach E pricing above $50,000 is still $10,000 less than the entry level Y.

I've said in other threads on this site that a high degree of vertical integration/gigafactory model is necessary though not sufficient for automakers (both new and legacy) to mass produce BEV efficiently and profitably nowadays. And ultimately to survive and thrive amid the ongoing automotive industry revolution. I did not mean to imply that this business model is immune to supply chain disruptions or other macroeconomic factors. My apology if my previous comments came across that way.

? Tesla is far ahead of any other global automaker when it comes to BEV production capabilities, but like any manufacturing firm it is not immune to supply chain disruptions.

Total Dealer BS! Sounds like the Dealer is too lazy and can't even be bothered to look at the Vehicle Visibility Report in order to give an accurate, factual answer to your request.

Finally got mine on thursday add a few things to it but here it is Superduty